A versatile method for the extraction of Brucella DNA and PCR are presented as reliable tools for the detection of Brucella spp. from body fluids of infected animals. Two oligonucleotides homologous to regions of the gene encoding for an outer membrane protein (omp-2) were designed to detect the pathogen from milk and/or blood of infected goats, bovines, and human patients. The sensitivity of our test and its ability to detect the pathogen in samples from the field reveal a promising advance in the diagnosis of brucellosis in animals and humans.

Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonosis affecting animal and human health. In the last several decades, much research has been performed to develop safer Brucella vaccines to control the disease mainly in animals. Till now, no effective human vaccine is available. The aim of this paper is to review and discuss the importance of methodologies used to develop Brucella vaccines in pursuing this challenge.

The outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) from smooth B. melitensis 16 M and a derived rough mutant, VTRM1 strain, were purified and characterized with respect to protein content and induction of immune responses in mice. Proteomic analysis showed 29 proteins present in OMVs from B. melitensis 16 M; some of them are well-known Brucella immunogens such as SOD, GroES, Omp31, Omp25, Omp19, bp26, and Omp16. OMVs from a rough VTRM1 induced significantly higher expression of IL-12, TNFα, and IFNγ genes in bone marrow dendritic cells than OMVs from smooth strain 16 M. Relative to saline control group, mice immunized intramuscularly with rough and smooth OMVs were protected from challenge with virulent strain B. melitensis 16 M just as well as the group immunized with live strain B. melitensis Rev1 (P < 0.005). Additionally, the levels of serum IgG2a increased in mice vaccinated with OMVs from rough strain VTRM1 consistent with the induction of cell-mediated immunity.

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Here, we present the first complete genome sequence of brucellaphage Tbilisi (Tb) and compared it with that of Pr, a broad host-range brucellaphage recently isolated in Mexico. The genomes consist of 41,148 bp (Tb) and 38,253 bp (Pr), they differ mainly in the region encoding structural proteins, in which the genome of Tb shows two major insertions. Both genomes share 99.87% nucleotide identity, a high percentage of identity among phages isolated at so globally distant locations and temporally different occasions. Sequence analysis revealed 57 conserved ORFs, three transcriptional terminators and four putative transcriptional promoters. The co-occurrence of an ORF encoding a putative DnaA-like protein and a putative oriC-like origin of replication was found in both brucellaphages genomes, a feature not described in any other phage genome. These elements suggest that DNA replication in brucellaphages differs from other phages, and might resemble that of bacterial chromosomes.

An immunogenic aminopeptidase was purified from Brucella melitensis strain VTRM1. The purification procedure consisted of ammonium sulfate fractionation and three chromatographic steps. This procedure resulted in a yield of 29% and a 144-fold increase in specific activity. The aminopeptidase appeared to be a monomeric enzyme with a molecular mass of 96 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.8. Its activity was optimal at pH 7.0 at 40°C. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by EDTA, 1,10-phenathroline, and divalent cations (Zn

Salt-extractable antigen from Brucella melitensis 16M (RCM-BM) was used to evaluate the immune response from acute and chronic patients suffering from Brucella infections (in Mexico); their responses were compared with those of healthy controls. As a readout we used upregulation of CD69 (a well-established early activation marker for lymphocytes), lymphocyte proliferation by 3[H]thymidine or 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation measured by liquid scintillation or flow cytometry, respectively, and production of gamma interferon (IFN gamma). We compared the antigen-specific response with the response induced by phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) as a positive control. There was no difference between acute patients and the healthy controls in the percentages of CD3+, CD4+ or CD8+ lymphocytes. However, we found that chronic patients had a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the CD8+ T cells, in line with previous studies. Antigen-specific responses to RCM-BM showed a significant (P < 0.05) upregulation of CD69 in both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in acute brucellosis patients and in CD8+ T lymphocytes in chronic patients, indicating that both populations became activated by this antigen preparation. Moreover, lymphocyte proliferation from both acute and chronic patients in response to RCM-BM was highly significant (P < 0.001) when compared with healthy controls. However, there were no apparent differences between acute and chronic patients. Although the incorporation of BrdU showed similar results it provided additional information, since we demonstrated that both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes from acute and chronic patients proliferated equally well in response to RCM-BM. Similar results were observed with intracellular IFN gamma determination. As a whole, our data suggest an important role for both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in Brucella infection in humans. As has been reported in mice, it is feasible that activated CD8+ T cells participate in protection against Brucella in humans through cytotoxicity or/and by the production of factors such as interferon and granulysin. The role of these cells should be carefully analysed to understand better their participation in human infection by Brucella.